Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation Advisory Board
Dr. R. James Barnard, PhD
*Professor and Researcher, Department of Physiological Science, UCLA
*Research Director, Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation and Pritikin Center
*Author of 190 studies focusing on diet, exercise, and disease prevention
*Professional Societies: American College of Sports Medicine; American
Physiological Society; American Heart Association, Council on
Circulation; American Diabetes Association, Professional Section For more than 40 years, Dr. James Barnard has studied the role of diet and exercise in preventing and controlling diseases that are epidemic in industrialized societies. His more than 100 studies on the Pritikin Program, an approach that advocates daily aerobic activity and a low-fat eating plan rich in unrefined carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Archives of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Care, and the New England Journal of Medicine. They have documented the results of the Pritikin Program, which include:
· Reducing virtually all heart disease risk factors including cholesterol, triglycerides, inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, and insulin levels
· Lowering blood pressure to normal, medication-free levels
· Controlling diabetes and, for many, eliminating the need for drugs and insulin injections
· Eliminating the need for angioplasty and bypass surgery and relieving angina pain
· Reducing key risk factors for breast, colon, and prostate cancer
Because of his groundbreaking research, Dr. Barnard has received numerous honors and awards, including the President’s Lecturer, American College of Sports Medicine National Meeting, 1995; and the Cureton Tutorial Lecture, American College of Sports Medicine National Meeting, 2002.
Over the past three decades, Dr. Barnard has been awarded more than 20 research grants from several nonprofit health organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation.
Dr. Barnard has presented his research at more than 90 health conferences worldwide, including the International Cancer Conference in Switzerland (2004), the Jonsson Cancer Center at UCLA School of Medicine (2004), and the American Association for Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation National Meeting in Kansas City (2003). In 2004and 2005, he presented data at the American Heart Association’s national conference showing reductions in LDL cholesterol, trigylcerides, and excess weight achieved by children following the Pritikin Program.
Dr. Robert Bauer, MD, FACP
* American Board of Internal Medicine, Board Certified
* Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Maryland
* Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Miami
* Board of Trustees, Miami Heart Institute
* Co-Director Isotope Laboratory, Miami Heart Institute
* Executive Committee, Florida Society Internal Medicine
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Bauer completed his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree at the University of Maryland. Following a rewarding 10-year academic career as assistant/associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he entered private practice in South Florida. Dr. Bauer is board certified in internal medicine and has sub-specialty training in endocrinology and cardiology.
Over the years, as the practice of medicine changed, Dr. Bauer became increasingly interested in the health concepts pioneered by Nathan Pritikin. In David Lehr, M.D., he found a friend who shared the same perspective on a healthier life and the teachings of Nathan Pritikin. In 1978 he co-founded the Florida Pritikin Longevity Center with Dr. Lehr. Since that time, Dr. Bauer has convinced thousands of men and women worldwide that the Pritikin teachings are the optimal road to a healthier and more fulfilling life. Dr. Bauer is absolutely convinced that a lifestyle based on a healthy diet and exercise has the greatest preventive influence and beneficial impact on our health. His enthusiasm and experience have made him one of America's foremost experts on prevention of and corrective measures for Type 2 diabetes.
Dr. James J. (Jay) Kenney, PhD, RD, FACN
* PhD, Nutrition, Rutgers University
* Board Certified, Human Nutrition Sciences, American Board of Nutrition
* Fellow, American College of Nutrition
* Physiology Department, Assistant Professor, UCLA
* Biology Department, Assistant Professor, Lehigh University
* Board Member, National Council Against Health Fraud
Dr. Kenney, highly acclaimed nutrition researcher, author, and educator, offers expert advice on hot health topics such as Diet Wars (high protein vs. high-carb), Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension, Cancer Prevention, and more.
For more than three decades, Dr. Kenney has traveled throughout the U.S., speaking at conferences for doctors, dietitians, and other health professionals on the relationship between diet and disease, and exposing the unscientific claims of many fad diets. He has published articles for scientific journals, including the Journal of Nutrition and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, as well as popular magazines, such as Self, Shape, and City Sports. He has been interviewed on many television and radio media, most recently Frontline and CNN News, and provides continuing professional education courses for dietitians, nutritionists and other health professionals.
His passion for helping people cut through the confusion and understand the real truth about nutrition and diets make his lectures both inspiring and eye opening. He also practices what he preaches. “Today, I enjoy the Pritikin Program as much as I did my steak-and-ice-cream diet of 25 years ago. Best of all, I’m in better health today, at age 59, than I was at age 35. Before starting Pritikin, my blood pressure was 150/100; my cholesterol was over 300. Today, my blood pressure is generally below 110/70, my cholesterol is 180, and my HDL ‘good’ cholesterol is 80. Plus, I eat a lot of great-tasting, satisfying food and never go hungry. I weigh 157lbs at 6’3”. That’s 40 pounds less than my weight in college. Our country would not have an epidemic of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease if we could get everyone on the Pritikin Program.”
Dr. Stephen B. Inkeles, MD, MPH, FACN
*David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Division of Clinical Nutrition
*Internal Medicine, Clinical Nutrition Disorders of Lipid Metabolism
*Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine
*Diplomate, American Board of Nutrition (One of only a few hundred physicians in the United States board certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition)
*Fellow, American Heart Association Council on Arteriosclerosis
*Author of 20+ studies published in peer-reviewed journals on the role of nutrition in the treatment and prevention of heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases
While in medical school in the late 1970s, Stephen Inkeles read Nathan Pritikin’s first book, Live Longer Now, and was so impressed that he drove straight to Mr. Pritikin’s home in Santa Barbara, California, and talked to the author for hours, attempting (as college students do) to poke holes in the scientist’s theories. No luck. “Nathan Pritikin had such incredibly, well-researched responses to everything I asked,” recalls Dr. Inkeles. “I decided that he was really onto something. At that point, I became a convert.”
He has remained so since. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Inkeles has devoted himself to the study, research, and teaching of the life-enhancing benefits of good nutrition and daily exercise. For nearly two decades, he was a physician/educator at the Pritikin Longevity Center, “and every day, I saw the lives of my patients transformed. At Pritikin, they got results they never thought possible.”
Dr. Inkeles, in association with colleagues at UCLA, has published groundbreaking research on diet and health, including rigorous data showing that the Pritikin Program lowers blood sugar to the point where many type 2 diabetics no longer require medications to keep blood sugar under control.
Dr. Inkeles travels nationwide speaking at medical conferences and physician groups on nutrition and disease prevention. He has also been interviewed by numerous magazines, newspapers, radio shows, and television programs, including CNN, Health Magazine, Vegetarian Times, and USA Today.
Paul Lehr, President
"My father's commitment to helping people live longer, healthier lives has now become my commitment... I love what I do."
Paul Lehr cannot remember a time when the Pritikin Program was not a part of his life. In 1976, his father, cardiologist David Lehr, M.D., appeared with Nathan Pritikin on the television news program 60 Minutes. Before millions, Nathan and Dr. Lehr introduced an entirely new approach to the treatment of heart disease. Instead of drugs and invasive surgery, they passionately and persuasively argued, Americans should turn to daily exercise and a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains - the Pritikin Program. In 1976, these words were to say the least, radical, revolutionary. Today physicians all over the world recommend this simple, natural, lifestyle approach as their first line of defense against coronary artery disease.
In 1978, Paul's father founded the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Florida with his partner, Robert Bauer, M.D. Many evenings, Paul and his siblings ate dinner at the Pritikin Longevity Center, listening to their father recount the extraordinary successes of his guests at the Center. "His work filled him with joy," remembers Paul. "Every day, he saw the lives of the Pritikin participants transformed. They were getting results they never thought possible."
In the early 90s, Paul graduated from law school and began practicing law. But in 1999, not long after the death of his father, Paul returned to the Pritikin Longevity Center as President. "It's where I belong," he smiles. "My father's commitment to the Pritikin Program, to its success in helping people live longer, healthier lives, has now become my commitment. I love what I do. I'm here to continue my father's work."
In 1999, Paul oversaw the relocation of the resort to its beautiful new enclave at the Yacht Club on the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, Florida. Today, he directs a faculty of internationally-recognized scientist and educators in the fields of medicine, nutrition, psychology, and exercise as well as a team of therapeutic spa professionals.
The scientists, many of whom have been involved with the Pritikin Longevity Center for more than 25 years, serve as both teachers and researchers. "No other health resort has such a strong scientific foundation," notes Paul. Over the past 30 years, more than 100 studies in key medical publications like the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have documented the exceptional results of the Pritikin Program in helping thousands overcome heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and many other health concerns.
Today, with Paul Lehr at the helm, the health professionals at the nonprofit Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation continue to fine-tune the Pritikin Program according to cutting-edge science. "We're at the forefront of research in nutrition, lifestyle change and disease prevention," concludes Paul. "And we intend to stay at the forefront."
Dr. Danine Fruge, MD
*American Board of Family Practice, Board Certified
*MD, Louisiana State University School of Medicine
*American Academy of Family Physicians
*Florida Hospital Resident Research Award
*State Project Chair, Louisiana State Medical Society
*President, Women In Medicine
Dr. Danine Fruge offers cutting-edge, science-based advice on many hot health topics, including Strong Bones: Building Them, Keeping Them; Solutions For America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic; Healthy Women and Menopause; Nutrition For Athletic Performance; and Wellness/Preventive Medicine: The Medicine of the Future. To her patients at Pritikin, Dr. Fruge brings the enthusiasm and real-world expertise of a doctor who practices what she preaches. She exercises daily and throughout life has enjoyed a diet abundant in natural, nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. “When I was growing up,” she marvels, “my parents were so health-conscious that I never even stepped into a McDonald’s till my teen years.”
Since childhood, Dr. Fruge has also been an avid exerciser and athlete. As an undergraduate, she received a full NCAA Division 1 tennis scholarship. She also runs marathons. As a physician, she completed rotations at many sports medicine clinics, including the Longitudinal Sports Medicine Clinic in Orlando, Florida and Clinical/Surgical Pediatric Orthopedics in Orlando. She now spends several hours every week running after her five-year-old child son, Alan.
In 2003, Dr. Fruge completed medical residency work at the Pritikin Longevity Center and was so impressed with Pritikin’s educational program and quality of physician care that she applied for employment. “I truly believe that preventive medicine is the medicine of the future, and I intend to make it my life’s work. The Pritikin Longevity Center represents this work at its very best.”
“Pritikin empowers people to live up to their fullest health potential,” explains Dr. Fruge. “People walk out of classes exclaiming, ‘I can do this!’ Plus, in just a few days they start to feel the wonderful benefits of the Pritikin Program, like increased energy and new freedom from medications, which really motivates them to continue their new lifestyle. One of the greatest joys of my job is the many phone calls I get from my patients after they’ve returned home, telling me how much more weight they’ve lost – and how great they feel. As their doctor, there’s nothing more gratifying to hear. I love being their personal health coach.”
Dr. Fruge has been on the medical staff at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa since 2003. Pritikin’s residential, lifestyle-change program is tailored to meet the needs of the individual and focuses on daily exercise and an eating plan based on natural, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood rich in omega 3s, and limited lean meat. Since 1975, more than 100 studies in top medical journals like the New England Journal of Medicine have documented the Pritikin Program’s remarkable success in helping the Center’s 75,000+ guests achieve healthy, lifelong weight control, lower cholesterol, normalize blood pressure, decrease inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, control blood sugar, and substantially reduce the risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancers of the breast, colon, and prostate.
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